Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) gains trademark in China

Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has gained the rights to operate under their own brand name in China. Tesla Motors has defeated what we like to call in our opinion, a “trademark troll,” in China. The previous owner of the Tesla trademark was asking Tesla Motors to pay millions for the trademark. Tesla Motors offered Zhan Baosheng $326,000 at one point, but he asked for 100 times that amount. Baosheng registered the trademark in 12 different automotive categories and was hoping to capitalize from Tesla Motors by doing that.

Tesla Motors decided to circumvent the trademark issue by registering themselves as Tuosule Auto Sales Co. Ltd. and continued to fight for their name in Chinese couts. Tesla Motors won a court decision to use their own name, which will be known as “Te Si La” to consumers in China.

“We went to court and we won. The court has given use right to use the name, which is why you see the Chinese name in our store now.” stated Tesla China operations head Veronica Wu.

The timing of this news worked out beautifully because Tesla Motors announced their pricing in China yesterday. Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk said that eventually the sales of Tesla vehicles in China could match the U.S. as early as next year if everything goes smoothly. The price of the 85 kWh Tesla Model S was set to $121,000 in China after customs and export fees.